The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to a sender device based pause system for controlling communications between information handling systems.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an information handling system (IHS). An IHS generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements may vary between different applications, IHSs may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, IHSs may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
IHSs such as, for example, a server IHS, may include a network interface device (e.g., a network interface controller (NIC), a Local Area Network (LAN) on Motherboard (LOM), etc.) that provides an Ethernet interface between a network and IHS components in the server IHS. However, IHS components in the server IHS may include different maximum transmission rates to communicate with the network interface device. For example, a 10 GB Ethernet (GE) LOM that provides the Ethernet interface may be shared by a Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) that communicates with the LOM at a maximum transmission rate of 100 MB/second, and server operating system (OS) applications that communicate with the LOM at a maximum transmission rate of 10 GB/second. In a high traffic situation, such a scenario can raise a number of issues. For example, in the event the BMC receives more data than it is capable of processing, a link-based pause Ethernet frame is generated and sent to the LOM. In response, the LOM stops all data from passing through the LOM until the BMC is capable of processing additional data. This prevents the server OS applications from receiving data through the LOM, and thus communicating through the network, even though the server OS applications may be capable of processing data (i.e., because the server OS applications may be well under their maximum transmission rate with the LOM.)
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved pause system for IHS communications.